Founded and endowed by Arnold Frank Hills (1857–1927), MD of Thames Ironworks, sportsman (founder of West Ham FC), philanthropist, and promoter of vegetarianism.
A centre of treatment for sick vegetarians it consisted of a Victorian house named Oriolet and an Arts & Crafts open-air ward block with 20 beds. The committed fruitarian Josiah Oldfield was made its Warden.
c.1898 Oldfield left and in May 1903 the Salvation Army took over the hospital. It was run by Florence Booth, renamed the Oriolet Hygienic Home and re-opened in June 1903 for the treatment of TB patients. When the doctor in charge became unwell and no replacement could be found the hospital was closed.
1908 the premises were taken over by St Ethelburga's Home for Girls, which moved from Kilburn. 1922 that closed and the building became the York House Hotel. Part of the site became a tea garden until 1929. A small section continued as the garden of the Wheatsheaf public house, now, 2022, the Quindici Italian restaurant.
The Hotel was demolished in 1930 and new homes have been built on the site, as well as a new road - York Crescent. The only remnant of the Oriolet Hospital is a dragon finial on the roof of No. 97 Staples Road.
Source: (the magnificent) Lost Hospitals of London.
This image comes from Childrens Homes which has other photos of the buildings when they were used by St Ethelburga's Home for Girls. We wonder if the building at the far right is the still standing 105 Staples Road.
What we have failed to discover is where the name Oriolet came from. Oriole is a type of colourful European or North American bird.
